DOJ restricts asylum claims based on family relations

A decision issued Monday by Attorney General William Barr will restrict the ability of migrants to claim asylum based on their family relations. In a precedent-setting immigration court opinion, Barr said that simply being part of a nuclear family targeted for persecution doesn’t qualify as a “particular social group” eligible for asylum in the United States. “The fact that a criminal group — such as a drug cartel, gang, or guerrilla force — targets a group of people does not, standing alone, transform those people into a particular social group,” the attorney general wrote. President Donald Trump has sought to restrict access to asylum, which his administration views as a magnet that draws migrants north from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessionsissued a similar immigration court decision in June 2018 that blocked asylum for victims of domestic violence and gang violence, a move that drew condemnation from pro-migrant advocates. A federal judge based in Washington, D.C., blocked key parts of a policy related to the decision six months later. Barr’s ruling will guide future decisions in the immigration courts, which are not part of the federal judiciary and fall under the purview of the Justice Department. Barr highlighted that authority in the ruling Monday, saying “the attorney general has primary responsibility for construing and applying provisions in the immigration laws.” The DOJ asylum move is only the latest policy change to limit asylum. Trump announced Friday that his administration had struck a deal with Guatemala that would require asylum seekers passing through that nation to first seek protections there...MORE